This website presents our knowledge and research on this important aspect of the Royal Collection. As of April 2026 it will not be regularly updated and new research on this topic will sit within the main website.

Record of historical events

Victoria and Albert collected photographs that documented the political and military events that defined a period of global expansion

JAMES ROBERTSON (1813-88)

General view of Sevastopol

1855-1856

Salted paper print | 19.3 x 27.0 cm (image) (image) | RCIN 2500680

Photograph of Sevastopol taken from a distance. The town and harbour can be seen faintly in the distance, with hills behind. The hill in the foreground is covered with rocks and a group of men sit on a large rock to the left. The Siege of Sevastopol lasted eleven months, with the allied British, French and Turkish forces eventually capturing the city on the 8th September 1855.
  • Creator(s)

    James Robertson (1813-88) (photographer)

  • 19.3 x 27.0 cm (image) (image)

    31.8 x 36.0 cm (mount)

  • General view of Sebastopol. [Crimean War photographs by Robertson].

  • From the collection of Queen Victoria

  • Subject(s)
    • Social sciences
      • Military affairs
        • Wars, Campaigns & Battles
          • Wars
            • Wars of the nineteenth century
              • Crimean War (1853-1856)
    • Places
      • Europe
        • Ukraine
          • Crimea
            • Sevastopol [Crimea]
    • Geography
      • Systematic geography
        • Landscapes
    Object type(s)
      • visual works
        • photographs